Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #1 by Brandon Montclare, Amy Reeder, and Natacha Bustos hits stands today. While I’m always excited by more diversity on the page and behind the scenes (Lunella, aka Moon Girl, is a new young woman of color character and the book boasts three women creators including Reeder as co-writer, Bustos on art, and Tamra Bonvillain providing colors), I’m rather concerned about Lunella’s visual similarities to Fight Like a Girl’s Amarosa. Continue reading ‘‘Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur’ Bears Striking Similarities to ‘Fight Like a Girl’’

A new report that Michael B. Jordan will be playing Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch, in Fox’s upcoming Fantastic Four reboot has once again sparked heated debate. Many are praising the color-blind casting choice as a sign of progress, while others espouse racism under the guise of upholding the ever-sacred source material (which is itself a product of 1950’s racism).

I’m not going to bother directly addressing all the racist arguments because they’ve already been discussed and discredited ad nauseam. (If you need that discussion, allow me to recommend starting with The 5 Most Insulting Defenses of Nerd Racism.)

However, I would like to take this opportunity to discuss the alleged progressiveness of color-blind casting. Is color-blind casting inherently a form of positive representation?

In celebration of Black History Month, I’m giving away copies of two of my favorite comics on the Journey Into Awesome Facebook page! First up is a new hardcover copy of Captain America: Truth (originally published as Truth: Red, White & Black) by Robert Morales (Captain America) and Kyle Baker (Why I Hate Saturn).

All of the raw data has been collected. It’s a massive amount and information and includes roughly 250 characters that appear across more than 300 individual comics.

Right now, I’m having a few associates proof the collected sex, race, and sexual orientation of all the characters. I’m also working out the best way to display the data. Once I get all the finer points ironed out I’ll publish a series of post examining the results so make sure to stay tune!

In Uncanny Avengers #5, writer Rick Remender included a speech advocating cultural assimilation and the abandonment of a minority’s cultural identity. Needless to say, this has caused a bit of an uproar.

Before we get to the speech, here’s a little background.

For decades, mutants have served as an oppression metaphor in Marvel comics. The term “mutant,” unlike the derogatory “mutie” or “freak,” is the culturally accepted term used to refer to an individual who naturally develops (i.e. is born with) active or latent superhuman abilities. These individuals are largely marginalized and discriminated against. Continue reading ‘Rick Remender, the Mutant Oppression Metaphor, and the ‘M-Word’’

Butterfly first appeared in a back-up feature in Hell-Rider #1, published in August 1971 by Skywald. The feature was written by Gary Friedrich (Ghost Rider), penciled by Ross Andru (The Amazing Spider-Man, Wonder Woman), and inked by Jack Abel (Superman) and Mike Esposito (The Amazing Spider-Man, Wonder Woman). Continue reading ‘Black History Month Superhero Spotlight: Butterfly’

As I discussed last week, the Black Panther debuted as the first black superhero in July 1966. However, it would be three years until the introduction of the first African-American superhero in comics: Samuel Wilson, the Falcon. Created by Stan Lee and Gene Colan, Wilson first appeared in Captain America #117 in September 1969.

Ascertaining the first black superhero is tricky thanks to the ambiguous nature of the term “superhero.” In 1941, the horribly offensive Whitewash Jones was fighting Nazis alongside Bucky in the pages of The Young Allies; in 1954, Waku, Prince of the Bantu, starred in his own feature in Jungle Tales; in 1963, Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos introduced us to Gabe Jones; and in 1965, Lobo briefly starred in his own series. Continue reading ‘Black History Month Superhero Spotlight: Black Panther’